-IC and -ICAL stress
The suffixes -ic and -ical always place primary stress on the syllable immediately before them, which is why stress shifts across a word family: PHOtograph, phoTOGraphy, photoGRAPHic. The vowels reduce and expand to follow the stress. Learning this one rule fixes hundreds of words.
Accent
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The words
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Words that lose a syllable
Chocolate, comfortable, vegetable: fewer syllables than the spelling suggests. Hear the real count.
Schwa sound words
The most common sound in English, hiding in every unstressed syllable. Learn to hear the schwa.
US vs UK stress shifts
Adult, garage, ballet, cafe: the stressed syllable moves between accents. Hear where it lands.
-ary and -ory endings
Necessary, laboratory, secretary: Americans keep a full syllable that the British swallow.
Medical terms
Anaesthesia, ophthalmologist, angina: essential medical vocabulary said clearly and correctly.
Legal terms
Subpoena, plaintiff, voir dire, tort: courtroom vocabulary with unpredictable pronunciation.
Keep practising
Browse every practice list, hear two accents back to back on Compare, or test your ear with the listening quiz.